it's not just -- it's continued radical lieization of people like nadal hasan. he goes back to the most tragic attack on the united states. >> let's talk a little bit about where we got why now? we know there was an attempt on his life with a drone attack earlier this summer, i think, that failed. fair to say that the u.s. government has been targeting him for some time? >> reporter: oh, over the last, i would say, eight years. no question when i was in the bush administration, i personally pushed the president very hard on finding capturing al awlaki. whether or not they were willing to have the political will to capture him was always a question. after the last five years or so they've dramatically increased presence, military, and we

worked very closely with the yemen government. i don't think that this successful targeting would have been possible without u.s. support. >> of course, we don't know if the u.s. was involved in this kill, the yemeni government came out and announced this. interesting, the yemeni president returned to the country and is looking for the united states' help to keep him in power, and some of this was political in nature. >> sure. absolutely. in fact, the u.s. government discouraged him from returning to yemen, as did the saudi government. we know that from officials in both governments. he went back anyway. he is looking for support. we don't know whether or not the united states was directly involved in the killing, the yemeni government does not have the capability without u.s. assistance to get this done. >> fran townsend, hope you'll

still around. many more questions. live to istanbul to check in with mohammed jamjoom who has information about exactly where al awlaki was killed. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, christine. we're told by the yemeni embassy in washington, d.c. that the operation that killed anwar al awlaki was killed out in a province of yemen about 140 kilometers from the capital, from sanaa. interesting, because anwar alky was believed to be in another province that's known to be a stronghold for militants, and al qaeda and an says-of-a

also, trying to target and kill al awlaki and -- [ inaudible ]. >> all right. we're having technical difficulties, because, obviously, it's difficult to have somebody from istanbul. let's head to washington. we're talking about waking up to news to nor key al qaeda death, but we still don't know a lot about how anwar al awlaki died. what do we know now, dan lothian? >> reporter: as reported, in fact, anwar al awlaki is in fact dead. what we're still waiting to find out is the u.s., and what role the u.s. might have played in his death. the haas been very active in that region over the last few years with u.s. drone attacks and there were at least a couple

of other reports post some of those drone attacks that, in fact, he had been killed, and those turned out not to be the case. now the u.s. in fact confirming that he is dead. suggesting that to most americans he may not be on par with osama bin laden but what made him very dangerous is the fact he was and is an american. the president himself last year issued the kill and capture order. so that sort of puts it into some perspective as to what the u.s. felt about this threat from yemen. at the time his father had sent a letter to president obama suggesting that this order should not be put in place, because his son was not in anyway connected to al qaeda, but, again, the u.s. has been very active in the region believing that that was a very real threat, because of his

involvement, from just supporting these operations to attack americans, to actually being involved in some of these operations himself. we are waiting to get more details from administration official. i'm told by one senior administration official that, in fact, more information will be forthcoming. at this point, just confirmation that in fact he is dead. >> i suppose, dan, that president obama will come out a little later this morning and talk about this? >> reporter: we have no indication yet the president will come out. in in fact he will step before the cameras or the white house will release some kind of statement from the president, but this is, in fact, a big achievement for the u.s. it by no means wipes out the threat of terrorism from the region, but it is a key component of the threat, and so it is a good day for the obama administration, and we are trying to find out if, in fact, we will see the president, hear from the president on this today, whether in person or in some kind of release.

>> dan, talking to fran townsend saying in the bush administration she personal pushed their president, saleh that he was on the loose and dangerous. now it's shifted a little for saleh. he's back from saudi arabia. the united states has warned him against coming back to his own country. how does that play into here? could he and his government have helped in this mission? >> reporter: well, you know, you're right. the timing of all of this, but i think what's important to understand in terms of resources, it's difficult to see how in fact yemenese could have carried this out alone. it appears from the track record the u.s. played have involvement in this because of the resources. as i pointed out, drone attacks have been consistent over the past few years.

some suggested this could have been the result of drone attacks. so the haas beu.s. has been sup in that, but we have no confirmation yet as to exactly how this mission was carried out, who was involved. those are pieces of this puzzle we're still trying to put together. >> all the yemenis had, was the information. that was my point. maybe now that -- maybe they was something in a bigger picture. they knew where he was. >> the united states couldn't have done it without the yemenese helping. interesting, they put out a big announcement, announcing the death of anwar al awlaki. so, dan, i guess what i'm asking you, the obama administration has obviously been working with the yemeni government over a long period of time to achieve this. so it's really -- it's really been a long relationship in

getting this done. >> reporter: it has been a long relationship, and, again, going back to what i was saying, they may not have had the resources but a lot of times when the u.s. carries these operations on outside of country, they rely on their intelligence, not only their own, on the ground but the yemenis intelligence. they would have had to have had some intelligence from the yemeni government. we're trying to get more information on that. i don't want to get ahead of -- certainly there are reports out there. no confirmation on exactly how that came together, except for the fact that the u.s. is confirming that he is dead. >> dan lothian reporting live from washington. stick around. we have more questions for you as you find out more information. dan lothian, many thanks. >> reporter: okay. coming up, what was conrad murray doing in the moments after michael jackson was found unconscious? jackson's bodyguards says the doctor was on cleanup patrol. we're live in los angeles just ahead on this "american morning." life insurance companies

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another key kill in the terrorist fight. anwar al awlaki is dead. >> more details from the yemeni government he has been killed. the u.s. confirming it. still don't know how, where, when. what can you tell us now? >> reporter: we certainly know he was targeted through a drone air strike earlier this year. in fact, the strike came so close as to bounce off the fender of his vehicle when he changed vehicle. it's not clear if it was a drone this time. we do know the activity of drones over the south of yemen looking for al awlaki, looking for him. in all probability, these are the way he was targeted. those fine details, we don't quite have yet. >> this is carol costello. fill us in on his background. he supposedly inspired the fort hood shooter. 14 were killed.

and inspired the underwear bomber. trying to bring down that flight in 2009. tell us about this man. >> reporter: his real strength is the fact that he is charismatic, he has develop add b big following among muslims, people who follow his fire brand version of islam. on top of that, he speaks english. he speaks the language of the people that al qaeda want to appeal to do draw into their net to draw towards radical islam and to commit attacks against the united states and other countries. so this is a man who produces dvds, cds, audio messages, by the hundreds of thousands. you can buy them in stores, religious bookstores here in london. you can buy them on the internet. you can buy them all over the

world. he has been more radical over the past ten years and his message, his voice, is something found with increasing appeal. not just among younger people. older people. i was in one of these stores looking at this cds, an elderly man came in and i asked, why do you buy them? he said, he liked his message. it's his language, it's his flo flowery message, because he is draw people in and al qaeda can use in attacks, as we have seen. possibly fort hood, possibly the christmas underwear bombing. >> what is his message then? >> reporter: his message is that the united states and the west are engaged in trying to diminish, to bring down work against islam, and the only way to -- the only way to take them on is to fight back against them, and to join a -- in terms

of his messages now it is okay to go out and kill these people, because they're against islam, and that's what makes his message so dangerous. i think if we put it in the context of yemen right now, incredibly operationally active for al qaeda. still loose, al serie, may be under the bomb used, may be the bombs trying to bring down two aircraft over the united states last year. made the bomb that tried to, that was used to try and kill the saudi deputy minister of interior. you have this bombmaker. this top al qaeda bombmaker on the loose in yemen. yemen is disintegrating in a civil war. al qaeda has taken control of preprovinces there, al awlaki was the mouthpiece. he is now dead, but al qaeda is growing in strength in yemen and incredibly skilled at bombmaking. >> nic robertson, we'll get back

to you. live in london. >> he served as -- here in the united states and in california, in virginia before moving back to yemen. so that's another one of the allures of him, that he was an american citizen. somebody who knows this system. >> i've watched his speeches online. he's charismatic, he's young. some people find him exciting. you can see why he might inspire followers. >> today he's dead. more about the when, where, how and why coming up later in the presume. switching gears, testimony against dr. conrad murray's murder trial. dr. murray directed alberto alvarez to pack up medicine before calling 911. don lemon is covering the trial live outside the courthouse in los angeles. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. basically, christine, they were saying that dr. conrad murray was trying to clean up after himself. as you said.

cover his tracks. now, this logistics, which is essentially the head of his security on the phone the whole time being directed by michael jackson's personal assistant, walk towards the house. go up the driveway. now start running. hurry up. now go to the front door, and the front door is locked. then the nanny finally comes and sees him. now, run up the stairs. he says, when he gets to the door he sees dr. conrad murray, he's standing over the banister, goes up the stairs and he and conrad murray sort of go into the room -- or conrad mur goes into the room a bit before him and he seize conrad murray pumping michael jackson's chest with one hand and all of a sudden the children start to come in. first paris came in. here's how he directed that young child. >> paris screamed out, daddy -- >> when you heard paris scream out daddy, was she crying? >> yes, sir. >> and was michael laying on the bed, palms out? looking slightly to the left at that time. >> yes, he was.

>> would he have been actually looking slightly towards paris' location? >> yes, sir. >> so paris is crumbled up in a ball. that's what the testimony was yesterday, and then also prince there red-faced crying. the two older children in the room, and then, according to alvarez, instead of calling 911, they still hadn't called 911 yet, he said that conrad murray directed him to start helping him put away vials and other evidence. take a look. >> i was standing at the foot of the bed. he reached over and grabbed a handful of vials and then he reached out to me and said, here, put these in a bag. >> reporter: that wasn't the only thing he said. okay, so take these. put these in a plastic bag. take this plastic bag, put it in the brown paper bag. take the brown paper bug, put it

in a blue bag. on and on. and then the 911 call. so much time was lost here, christine. >> ldon lemon. we're jettigetting more and mor this chaos. let's head to atlanta. >> check in with rob marciano. how's the weather? >> changes on the way. hello again. this storm that's going to finally shake up the weather pattern is creating winds across the great lakes right now that are impressive. gusting over 40 and 50 miles an hour along the shore of lake michigan and some of the waves here could be well over 20 feet crashing onshore. obviously in the way of showers as well. the big story is the wind and a cool front which will kick out. sitting and spinning here. unfortunately, this was not moving all that fast either. sticking around the northeast. some of these -- this temperature, getting to the east coast. 76 in new york today. but 59 in chicago.

because the wind, a lesser extent the metros and san francisco. pushing everything out 15 to 20 degrees below average is what we expect over or the weekend. going to be chilly. and a category 2 storm passes by bermuda heading out again. bioluminescence, the red tide. at night when these phytoplankton, the waves actually glow. >> that's awesome. >> look at this. maybe a couple more weeks. if you live in socal, check it out. the question this morning, was herman cain fair when he said african-american voters were brainwashed. i know you heard him say think,

but just in case, here it is. >> why is the african-american public -- >> many african-americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view. i am running for the republican as a conservative. it's brainwashing and people not being open minded. >> cornell belcher, a cnn political analyst calls cain's remarks racist. >> if i came on your show, anderson, and i said, all jewish people are brainwashed, i probably wouldn't be invited back to cnn. what herman cain said was a racist bigoted statement and should be treated like a racist and bigoted person who makes racist and bigoted statements. >> frankly, it's tough to get over the fact some african-americans forced the president to produce his birth

certificate. >> -- born august 4, 1961 -- >> republicans say, wait a minute. don't paint us all with the same brush. >> i'm not going to dwell on this topic, but, remember, the question was about people get poisoned about a party. there's presumption in the question also that flows from the fact 90% to 95% of african-americans vote a certain way. when people throw the word racism around that's when i end the conversation. you cannot have an intelligent conversation with those choosing the public square of that. i don't even want to get into that. >> and gaining support in a new fox poll. the "talk back" question for you this morning, was herman cain fair when he said african-american voters are brainwashed? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> used the word poison, he came back with the word brainwashed, there you go. florida throwing a wrench

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it is now 30 minutes past the hour. the obama administration kwechling about an hour ago, anwar al awlaki has been killed along with other opera tests. he may have inspired the fort hood shooter and suspected

underwear bomber. >> right. an american, born in new mexico in 1971. huge following around the world. our senior international correspondent nic robertson joins us now live from london. good morning, nic. what do we know now new about al awlaki and this operation that followed him. >> reporter: at 9:55 a.m. local time, about 2.55 eastern in the morning. given the news of al awlaki's death it came with an hour of that operation beginning to be conducted, seems it was a fairly swift operation, it cawas conducted about 90 miles east of the caste sanaa. it can help in the fight against al qaeda and wants the united states' support at the moment, the current government, because yemen is undergoing a virtual civil war right now and yemen's government wants the support of the united states.

carol, christine? >> how likely is it that the united states was involved in al awlaki's death? >> reporter: very likely. we can't say with any certainty at this stage, but we know that earlier in the year a u.s. drone targeted al awlaki, it was chasing him in a vehicle. he was escaping. he changed vehicles at the last minute, and when it was when he was changing vehicles that the drone that was targeting him engaged with missiles and as he sort of scooted off in one of the vehicles, they split up into a couple of vehicles, his vehicle was hit on the fender by the missile, but it didn't detonate and it didn't destroy his car, although two other operatives with him at the time were killed in weren't one of t vehicles. the united states has come incredibly close. he is a target. believed to be the first american put on a cia targeting list, if you will. so he is somebody who the united

states has said is a key al qaeda operative and he is a valid target. very likely they would have been involved. >> the president personally signed that order targeting him back in april. he was definitely a top find for the u.s. government. thanks so much, nic robertson. let's head to italy now and check in with paula newton. paula, you interviewed anwar alabamakya awlaki's father. what can you tell us? >> reporter: the doctor has been quite passionate about his son. he talked to me about the person he described was an all-american boy. his words, not mine. to prove it he brought pictures of the whole family at disney world. this was a man tormented by what had become of his son. remember, at the moment he had spoke ton me, he has al awlaki's kids and wife in his home.

they cannot believe what has become of his son. what was very interesting a father fighting on two fronts. he would tell me, look, what the american officials are telling me about my son is not true. i would take it back to american officials they would say, no, we definitely have evidence that he was materially involved in the plots and not just recruiting people online. the other thing, he always disputed whether or not the u.s. had the legal right to target and assassinate his son. he said he's an american citizen. if you believe he is guilty of something, capture him and try him, and this is is what he really wanted to dispute in the end. i can tell you what it was like to have a relationship with this man. still trying to get ahold of him this morning. his cell phone is turned off. he spoke to me very much how he raised his son to be an american and described to me the grief after 9/11. he said that in the way that the u.s. prosecuted the war on terror, that he believes in the end is what turned his son against america. carol? >> is he in contact, has he been

in contact with his son? his son's been hiding out in the mountains of yemen for a very long time. nobody could find him, until now, obviously. has his father been in constant contact with his son? >> reporter: it's a very good question, carol, and when i put that several times to the doctor, he told me, look, i'm not in contact with him. that's what he has to say. he also believes that officials from the yemeni government, officials he knows quite well. he knows the president of yemen quite well. he's done work for him. as for as american officials tailing the family to basically understand where he was. he told me, no, he doesn't have any contact with his son but also told me he was sure his tribe, his relative, wherever he was,s would do their best to protect his son. it is very clan-like and he was sure his son would be protected. that is the reason he wanted amnesty for his son, if you can believe it. he felt if his son could turn

the corner he could be helpful to u.s. officials. all the information coming out it was clear, he'd gone too far down the road and clearly the u.s. wanted him dead. >> let me ask you what the father thought about his preaching, if you will, the things he was saying in the thousands and thousands of audio messages and dvds? you didn't think he was a threat on one hand, the u.s. made him out to be, on the other hand, what he was doing to try to radicalize people, young people, old people. everyone? >> reporter: absolutely. the time we brought out some of the descriptions what was going online, what happened at fort hood, he said, look, he was not denying that his son felt a lot of anger towards what was going on in the war on terror, but he at the time, the last time i spoke to him in person, he told me, look, he would never, never want innocent people to be dead. he would never hurt innocent

people. after that, i then -- when you have other incidents of him speaking online saying, look, americans are legitimate targets, even innocent americans are legitimate targets, he would say, i don't want to talk about this. i don't think the u.s. authorities are really approaching this the way they should. i do not want to see my son assassinated and refused to engage on those issues after that. >> paula newton live from italy, thanks so much. the u.s. ambassador to syria, robert ford, is safe this morning after being attacked by an angry mob in damascus. they pelted hi convoy with rocks and tomatoes as he arrived to meet with a syrian opposition leader. he spoke as support for dissidence in syria. president obama calls the attack inexcusable. he's retiring this morning on schedule. joint chiefs admiral mike mullen is not going quietly, standing by his statement to congress

pakistan's spy agency supports insurgents. president obama will attend the hand over ceremony this morning as mullen is replaced by army chief of staff general martin dempsey. all right. broken government. our series all week. still to come, we've been looking at america's broken government, but cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin says, it doesn't look so broken to him. are we wrong? we'll ask him about the legality of targeting an american citizen in this latest terror attack against al qaeda. a lot to talk to jeff to and that's coming up after the break. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪

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[ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪

41 past the hour. updating you on the breaking news. anwar al awlaki has been killed. we learned that from a press release earlier this morning and the obama administration confirming this for us. this is the man who inspired the

underwear bomber to bring down that detroit flight on christmas day. much more as the morning drags on. talking about politics now. important primary information to tell you about. changes in florida that may certainly affect this republican primary race. let's head to washington and check in with mark preston. good morning, mark. >> hey. good morning, carol. you know, big changes -- big changes in a few hour, carol. the presidential nominating calendar as constructed by the republican party is going to be thrown out the window. this is very significant, because what it means is that republicans will very likely now, carol, choose their presidential nominee at least a month earlier than had expected. florida is expected to choose january 31st to hold their primary. this is in violation of republican party rules. what this is going to do is force states such as iowa, new

hampshire and nevada and south carolina to move their contests into early january, and by doing so, we're going to see candidates now campaigning in iowa right after the christmas holidays. they will probably take one day down. now, i will say that the florida officials are defending themselves, carol, from this. they say that the state is too large, too diverse, whether that is across racial lines, geographic lines or age lines, for not to be a major player in picking the next republican presidential nominee. >> could they be punished for making this move? >> reporter: they will be punished. more than 100 delegates slated to go to the convention. however, in many ways that's probably not going to happen. florida is hosting the republic republican delegation next year. do you want to penalize a state that will play such a primary role in the presidential

election and in the primary? >> many thanks to you, mark preston. and taking an in-depth look at why our government is so broken. our next guest argues, looks like a fractured system to many of you. it might actually be americans struggling to agree to disagree. that's what our system is all about. jeffrey toobin joins me, cnn's legal analyst. i want to talk about the breaking news. anwar al awlaki. a year ago, the president personally ordered a tor eed a him. an american citizen. very rare. challenged by the aclu and his own father stead was illegal. the american government should foug not do this. what is the legality of this? >> no dispute about the legality. this is a war. we are fighting against people who are engaged in armed warfare against us. the fact is, sadly, a handful of the people who are fighting against us are also american citizen, but the legal basis for

killing him on foreign soil is really no different than the legal basis for killing osama bin laden, and i think there will be -- even if there is some legal proceeding arising out of this, frankly, which i doubt. i don't think this is going to be a lawsuit, i am sure the united states government will win that case. >> let's talk about broken government, then. >> okay. not so broken government. >> it doesn't look so broke to you. >> right. >> why? >> we'll say -- why can't they work out their differences and compromise? you know, this is an ideological struggle going on in washington now with principle differences. i mean, the democratic and the republican party right now really just disagree about a host of issues, and when you have people saying, oh, you know, they should just agree. they don't agree. they just don't agree on whether it's social issues. whether it's abortion, or same-sex marriage. whether taxes help or hurt the

economy. you know, i just don't think that we should pretend there's some right answer out there in the middle when, in fact, they just disagree about what's right for the country. >> presumably there's more, though. some point out one-third of one-half of one-third of government seems to be holding things up. that's the tea party. the new part of the republican -- new republicans and the house of representatives, saying democrats had their way for too long and this is a natural reaction to that. is that the way the landscape is? this is just a new twist on normal disagreement? >> well, i think that underestimates the power of the tea party. i mean, when was the last time you heard any prominent republican say a bad word about the tea party? like -- never. they are the mainstream of the republican party now. you can argue whether that's a good or bad thing and argue on the merits of any of these disputes, but the republican party now is essentially equivalent to the tea party.

the anti-tax, libertarian in some ways. socially conservative in other ways. that is the republican party now. it's 180 degrees different from the contemporary democratic party, and the democratic party is a party that believes in activist government, and the fact that they don't agree is really why we need elections, because that's who's going to settle this ultimately. not some magical compromise in the middle. >> let's talk about the most divisive issue. one of them in recent years. health care reform. the supreme court's going to get this. >> thank goodness, for those of us that follow the supreme court. >> look, this going to land right in the middle of a big re-election campaign. ship say clarence thomas' wife should, because of her activism in this, that maybe he should not be involved. what do you think? >> i think he should remain on the case. she has a job. she is a political activist. she's been one for decades. since before she met clarence

thomas. she is not a party. her organization is not a party to any of the lawsuits that they're working their way forward. she has political views. they are actually very similar to his. i would say that's true in most marriages. people share political views. i just don't see why that is a disqualification. i do this that this is going to be the most significant case that this supreme court has had since -- >> really? >> oh, absolutely. >> looking for unicorns and rainbows next year, you won't get it. >> this is going to define the scope of the federal government powers what they are, in a wide range of issues probably for decades. this case. so i just think this is an immensely significant case and it will be decided at the end of june 2012, right before the convention. >> wow. so interesting. jeff toobin, nice to see you. read jeff's opinion piece online at cnn.com/opinion.

all right, carol? >> christine, it's 48 past the hour. morning headlines coming your way next including breaking news. the biggest blow to al qaeda since osama bin laden. we'll be back. the postal service is critical to our economy-- delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year

from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. ten minutes until the top of the hour. what you need to start your day. the biggest find since osama bin laden.

anwar al awlaki the leader of the arabian peninsula is dead. and courting you to use nor debit card. this in response to how much merchants can charge on transactions. michael jackson's bodyguard says before calling 911 he helped dr. conrad murray gather up drug vials in jackson's bedroom. prosecutors say that's signs of a cover-up. and the man replacing general mullen, army general martin dempsey. president obama will attend the hand over. florida is expected to move up its presidential primary to the last day in january 2012. a decision on that likely coming as early as today. it's a move that could throw the entire republican calendar into a frenzy. baseball's second season getting under way. the american league playoffs begin tonight.

the rays versus the rangers and then the detroit tigers, you know they're going to win, versus the new york yankees. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" back after this break.

seven minutes until the top of the hour. good morning to you. arizona shooting suspect jared loughner must undergo for more months of treatment before being re-evaluated. saying he may one day be able to stand trial if he stays on medication. he charged in the january shooting rampage that killed six and injured 13 others including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. he's been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is on suicide

watch in a prison. and using procedures that would take longer to explain than the actual vote, passing a spending bill keeping the government funded through next tuesday and providing additional money for disaster relief. when the full house returns from recess next week it will take up a more comprehensive bill to keep the government running through november. and now looking very lucky the supreme court could rule on the health care law during the election year. a political battle growing whether some justices should sit the case out. some house democrats now want justice clarence thomas to be investigated over his wife's ties to a lobbyist group that opposes the bill. and some republicans called for justice elena kagan to recuse herself she was was the top lawyer during the health care debate. an unexpected outcome of a natural disaster. irene is causing a gold rush. slammed into the state and

erosion made things easier for people who pan for gold. one panner says the tropical storm unveiled new treasure spots. >> on the good side as far as the looking for gold, it moved the gold. it moved a lot of dirt. it cleaned a lot of places where you had to dig before. there's a lot more places as far as finding is concerned than there used to be. >> how much gold is out there? we don't have specifics. a vermont family found enough to pay out of their property tax. >> you're kidding? >> i know. >> that's amazing. >> go to vermont. >> of course. ahead next hour, breaking news. yemen saying the man believed to be al qaeda's new number one is now dead. how they got him, what washington is saying about it, all next hour. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula

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and breaking news overnight. a key al qaeda kill. a u.s.-born cleric regarded at the biggest threat to america's homeland security now dead. experts saying this one is bigger than bin laden. good morning to you. it is friday september 30th. welcome to "american morning." i'm carol costello. >> and i'm christine romans. ali velshi is off today. let's give with the breaking news this morning. another detail in the war against al qaeda. the white house saying anwar al awlaki, the leader in yemen is dead. many saying this is bigger than getting bin laden science he was young, internet savvy, inspirational, english speaking

and an american citizen. someone born in 1971 in new mexico. someone who preached in this country and around the world, preached against americans. nic roberts han mos more for use in london. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, christine. the operation targeting him began at 9:55 a.m. in the morning. local time in yemen according to yemeni officials about 90 mile it's east of the capital sanaa. he was about 8 kilometers, five miles or so, outside of a town and he was targeted there. it's not clear exactly how he was targeted. we do know that just a few months ago a u.s. drone had a very near miss strike against him hitting the fender of his car as he changed vehicles and easy scaped. it's not clear if it was this type of strike again this time coming from the air. awlaki is so charismatic, appealing to young people, skilled in the use of the internet. he's produced many, many dvds and cds of his audio and video

messages, has had a wide following over the past decade or so and is really known to be able to reach out and influence young people and bring in funding for al qaeda. so his death is going to be, is going to strike a real blow against al qaeda right now, christine. >> tell us more, nic, about his message. his message evolved into being something more radical than it started. he told his followers that it was okay to target even innocent victims if you are going after the bigger goal of trying to protect islam? >> reporter: that's right. i mean, he told people it was okay to attack americans, to attack europeans, to attack others, and he said, you didn't need a religious ruling to do it. it was okay to do it. he was believed to have been part of the inspiration behind the alleged fort hood shooter, major nidal hasan, starting and killing 13 fellow soldiers, in

fort hood in 2009, and he's also believed to have been the man who was responsible for recruiting abdulmutallab, the underpants bomber who tried to bring down a flight christmas night. this is a man who has shown to be charismatic and can influence people. his message has grown for radical over the past decade. his real skill is the fact he speaks english. doesn't just speak arabic, just appeal to people in arabic but knows western civilizations and cultures and knows how to convince people in english. exactly the sort of people that al qaeda wants to recruit to their ranks, and to convince them that the west is wrong, that you don't need a special ruling to attack people from the united states, because they're trying to do muslims harm. so this was his danger and this was the way that he had come to operate in the past few years. >> nic robertson in london. thanks. and as we get more

information on al awlaki's death, he was an american-born muslim scholar and cleric living in yemen the past eight years but spent the majority of his life living here in the united states. he was the spokesman for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and described as the bin laden of the internet. as an imam, he preached and interacted with some of the hijackers responsible for the attacks on 9/11, although he condemned the attacks after they happened. he's believed to have recruited and trained the underwear bomber who attempted to bring down that plane on christmas day in 2009. awlaki also played a rule in the fort hood shooting, exchanged e-mails with army major hasan. awlaki encouraged hasan to carry out that massacre. >> and following this for many years, fran townsend. you know of him. know him well. worked with yemeni authorities in the past to get them to turn

him in or give more information about him. now we know he's been a target. it's been a long road. >> it's been a very long road, and it can't be understated the inspirational figure he was not only in the arabian region but here in the united states and in london. he would make these tapes, even -- before you could use the internet for radicalization, i'm sure nic could walk into a store and buy one of this tapes. especially in london. he would use this as a fund-raising vehicle, if you will. he really is the charismatic figure. we've got to be clear, though. al qaeda has a very sophisticated bombmaking capability, and we saw this with the underwear bomber. we've seen it with the plane cargo, with the computer cartridge, so they still have a real capability, but now their ability to recruit new people and raise money is severely diminished. >> i understand with yemen, al

qaeda is still growing, unlike in other countries. it's probably, i don't know, more than a little likely that the united states had some part in awlaki's killing. >> right. >> how do you suppose it went down? >> there's no question -- remember, given what's going on in yemen, president saleh just returned, there continues to be protests in the streets in sanaa. they don't control -- the government there does not control all of the cities, particularly in the south. they have issues with al qaeda. so the notion that the government could have turn their attention to the capture and kill now after eight years of being pressed for it is just unlikely to me. certainly american intelligence, american military, would have assisted in the targeting if not more than that. >> let's talk about the fact that he's american. this is really the big selling point for him among some of his audiences. this is someone who knows the united states and the west, and has chosen to rise up and talk against it. >> you know, there are only two

people in that category. al awlaki is one and another, hadan, who worked closely with bin laden. he know how to make the message resonate with people in the west. they've lived here, understand it and it appeal to people in the west. taking half that capability away is a tremendous victory for the united states. >> we always talk about, you know, how al qaeda has become weaker and it's really not the major factor in, you know, the war on terror here in the united states. i mean, how would you characterize it now? now that osama bin laden's dead, now that awlaki's dead? >> look, i'm always cautious about claiming victory. right right? i mean you don't want to encourage your enemies to prove you wrong. what i would say, they're severely weakened, on the run. their great strength is in affiliates and the greatest affiliate ob strained is the

peninsula taking out the charismatic leader of al awlaki severely diminishes them. the test now, can they regenerate, launch an attack? we haven't seen the retaliatory attack we feared after the killing of bin laden. we have to see if they can regenerate this capability, but this is the time. we've heard leon panetta when he was cia director, now secretary of defense, this is the time to try and finish this. to so fracture them. take away their leadership that you can really destroy al qaeda a. year ago that the president signed this -- this -- this order, i guess to go after this american citizen. it's taken a long time to get him. how rare is that? how rare is that to target a u.s. citizen on u.s. soil or as jeff toobin said, this is war. >> that's right. it is war, and my successor, in the obama administration, john brennan said, we're not going to let anyone use their american citizenship as a shield in this war. that's exactly right, but it's a big step. we don't take likely in the

united states government the targeting of an american, wherever you would be, and so this is a very significant step. >> fran townsend, thanks for joining us. hopefully you'll join us against next hour. looking forward to it. details how the attack went down are sketchy. we know the united states targeted al awlaki before the drone strike but just missed. of course, this man is on the cia target list. barbara starr is live for us at the wepentagon. the white house confirmed that al awlaki is dead. what more can you tell us about how he died? is there any information coming at all from the pentagon? >> reporter: there isn't at this hour, carol. a little technical issue. sorry. there is not at this hour, but, you know, the fact that the white house so rapidly confirmed that he is dead is a fascinating clue. we have seen this before. how and why would the white house know this so rapidly? is there a death photo or, in fact, was u.s. intelligence and the u.s. military deeply

involved in targeting this man as they have been all along? is seems very impossible that the yemenis, they may have capabilities, would have been able to do this on their own. we do know that a u.s. military team had been in yemen until very recently, at least, working on counterterrorism operations and training with the yemenis. there had been no indication they had been taken out of the country. it's that kind of u.s. capability that could have provided, could have provided, the on the ground targeting. watching where he was. knowing that he got into a vehicle, perhaps. driving on a certain road, and perhaps calling in those coordinates to a drone overhead or a u.s. aircraft overhead. certainly the u.s. would have likely been involved in essentially having eyeballs on him the entire why. this is the kind of precision targeting that the u.s. special force dos along with the cia and i know that they had been

operating inside yemen. carol, christine? >> barbara starr reporting live from the pentagon, thank you. so the obama administration authorized the cia to capture and kill the new mexican born cleric last year. dan lothian, live at the white house. our friend fran townsend, who worked in the bush administration, now ow security analyst, she said it's a very big step to take but the right step, and clearly, these are it's results. >> reporter: that's right. big step, because while the u.s. has gone after terrorists in other countries it is rare for the u.s. to go after an american. so, yes, the president did issue that order of capture or kill last year, and what's interesting, if you remember back then, his father wrote a letter to president obama saying that his son was not part of al qaeda. he was resisting, or pushing back, against this order of capture or kill, but nonetheless, the administration, senior administration official confirming that in fact he is dead, but they're not yet

confirming what role the u.s. may have played in his death. were drone attacks part of this operation that took him out or some other kind of operation? no confirmation of that as of yet. one other point. we are waiting to find out if the we'll hear from the president on this either in person or some kind of paper release. i can tell you that the president does have an event today at 11:00 in virginia. it is a ceremony for the change of office of the joint chiefs of staff, and so the president will be in front of a camera, but so far we don't know yet if the president will be making any comments on this. one other point. i just got a statement from u.s. representative peter king who is chairman of the house committee on homeland security, and he said in part, "the killing of anwar al awlaki is a great success in our fight against al qaeda and surveillance in the past several years how awlaki

has been more dangerous than even osama bin laden had been." >> i think we heard that text come in. >> i think we did. that was good. to italy and check up with paula newton. >> good morning, paula. you interviewed anwar awlaki's father and spent time with him, about his relationship with his son and the u.s. targeting him. tell us more about their relationship and how this young man went from an all-american boy to one of those wanted men in the world? >> to a terrorist. >> reporter: conversations with his father, this was a father in anguish. he couldn't understand how this happened to his son, and he brought pictures. showed me pictures of him as disney world. anwar looked as he father said, a jovial, happy son. seemed happy to be in the united states. seemed very immersed from american culture. he was born there and considered

himself an american. his father also refused to really address directly any of those allegations i put to him. the fact that he had perhaps motivated the killer at fort hood. the fact that he was inciting violence and encouraging people to kill innocents. he wanted us to know his son was not as bad as u.s. officials were saying. when i would take it become to the officials, we understand his father's concerns, this is just not the way it is. what was also very interesting, though, that he was sure that his family, his clan, would protect his son wherever he was in yemen. clearly, with the u.s. on his tail now, we first reported more than two years ago using drones to try to seek him out, it's come to this today. i've been e-mailing, it's understandable they're not returning my e-mails or calls but they still have, anwar awlaki's children in his home. his father told me he took out american citizenship for these

children, his own wife has american citizenship. they in no way, shape or form encouraged any of this in the home. i can tell you having spoken to him over several hours, this was a father absolutely hurt and pained that a country that he loved, he told me he loved, was now targeting to assassinate his son. >> a little more about his son. he was born in new mexico in 1971. lived in the u.s. he was educated here. clearly assimilated, or was he, assimilated in american culture, and what caused him to turn into a terrorist? what was the thing his father says propelled him down this other path? >> reporter: his father speaks to me about what happened after 9/11. he says after 9/11 his son could not believe what had happened. he said he had only ever preached peace until means and said it was against anybody in the muslim faith to be able to

basically undertake such a terrorist attack. his father claims after years of the war on terror and the way it was prosecuted, that that is what turned him. you know, in talking to some other people and seeing some of these family pictures, knowing that his personality, anwar awlaki got off on infamy of being this internet preacher. anytime i put that to his father, he refoused to have anything to do with it saying that's not possible. it was clear, speaking with those in yemen, he wanted the infamy and wanted to be the person famous for being able to incite people to fight against the united states and even kill innocent americans. his father, though, put his hands up like any father would and said, i do not understand. this is not what we preached in our home. >> paula newton, thank you so much. so just how significant is this? the director of our international security at the asia-pacific foundation joins us at the bottom of the hour with more perspective on this breaking news this morning.

carol. 15 past the hour. now to the michael jackson death trial. more questions about dr. conrad murray's response in critical moments after jackson's cardiac arrest. in court yesterday was the singer's bodyguard testifying he called 911, but only after dr. murray asked him to collect drug vials and an i.v. bag from jackson's bedroom. prosecutors say it's evidence of murray's attempt at a cover-up. joining us now, cnn legal contributor and defense attorney paul cowen. welcome, paul. >> good morning. >> let's start with alberto alvarez, weren't of jackson's, i guess, security personnel. he took the stand and talked about going into michael jackson's bedroom. michael jackson was clearly in distress, yet dr. conrad murray said, oh, put these vials in this paper bag. like, hide these drugs in another paper bag. he didn't say to alvarez, oh, call 911. let's listen to a bit of what alvarez' testimony was and then we'll talk about it. >> i was standing at the foot of the bed.

he reached over and grabbed a handful of vials and then he reached out to me and said, here. put these in a bag. >> so, of course, the prosecution is saying, dr. murray was much more interested in a cover-up than in actually saving michael jackson's life. >> yes, you know, alvarez made a very compelling witness. you can see, he's strong and confident in his testimony, and here you have michael jackson, presumably dying, maybe already dead, on the bed. you would think a 911 call, immediate medical action, would be called for. instead, alvarez builds the scene of murray hiding vials, moving things around the room, and eventually by the end of the day, we have a 25-minute lapse before 911 is called with the cardiologist, dr. murray, in the room. why would that be? >> even alvarez, that he wouldn't call 911 immediately. on cross-examination, the

defense attorney said, look, you changed your story several times. so the jury could look at alvarez and say, why didn't you call 911 right away? you saw michael jackson appeared to be in trouble? >> i think prosecutors will say dr. conrad murray is in the room. he's a cardiologist. you couldn't expect a security guard to make the decision that 911 was needed. he would rely on the doctor and trust the doctor. in fact, only in retrospect does he now realize that that was misplaced trust. >> but the doctor didn't know how to perform cpr and didn't alvarez know that? >> no, he didn't know that. carol, i represent doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice cases and happened to be sitting with medical professionals yesterday when some of the testimony was coming down. i mean, people were in a state of shock. i'm talk about trained medical people. one doctor said to me, there's no way he can ever take the witness stand in this case, dr. murray. how can he explain not knowing how to do cpr? not calling 911? it was a very good day for the

prosecution in showing his level of incompetence at the scene. >> the other sad fact to come out of this trial is that dr. conrad murray sent people down into the kitchen to talk to the chef. right? >> yes, he did. >> and those people said -- mr. jackson's in trouble. we need -- we need prince, his son to come upstairs, but the chef either didn't realize what was happening. she just went back to preparing lunch for the day. i mean, it seemed they all lived in a bubble and stuff like this just happened every day in michael jackson's home. >> well i guess they did. i mean, it really is odd that the doctor's reaching out to the chef and she's involved in the whole process, but she was, and, yes, these celebrities do live in a bubble. in the end, prosecutors are painting a picture here of a celebrity who buys the services of the doctor, dr. conrad murray. not really for medical attention, but to get drugs administered to him, because the rich and celebrities pretty much get what they want.

so that's the picture that they're going to create. he's in a bubble. he hires this doctor, but why isn't the doctor protecting him, rather than hurting him? that's the picture the prosecution's created. >> just the fact michael jackson was in bed sleeping and had an oxygen tank beside him and it was hooked up to him and he was also hooked up to a catheter. nobody sleeps that way every night. >> what struck me, when the security guard comes in and he's describes the scene as you've just described it, on the one hand, jackson was supposed to be vibrant and ready to go out on a 50-city tour. the security guard said he looked like a patient in a hospice, objection yxygen hooke him, i.v. in place. vials of medication which dr. murray tells him to hide instead calling 911. it is such a compelling, bizarre scene at the end of michael jackson's life, and we see all of this in the first three days of the trial. i've rarely seen a case that

begins with such drama and excitement, almost like a hollywood production or a hollywood movie. >> you wonder, where will it go from here? >> i don't know. it's got to get more boring. from day to day, every day it's another piece of fascinating testimony. >> thanks for coming in. appreciate it. christine? "minding your business" this morning, carol. have you enjoyed using nor debit card for free? nor bank of america customers, the luxury of using your own debit cards to make purchases soon will cost you in addition to monthly service fees. guess what? they're not the only bank instituting, you guessed it, new debit card fees. >> reporter: $5 a month is how much it will cost bank of america customers to make purchases think their deb et cards. it's set to take affect in 2012 and customers are voicing displeasure. >> not too psychsooike psyched . i'm switching. >> reporter: why the new fees?

a bank of america spokeswoman says "the economics of offering a debit card have changed with recent regulations." the regulation they're referring to is the durbin amendment that goes into effect saturday and reduces the amount of money banks charge merchants every time a debit card is used to make a purchase. . will drop from 44 cents to between 21 cents and 24 cents. now, that difference may seem like penny, but it's expected to cost banks 6.6 billion dollars in revenue per year, according to strategy and research. and b of a isn't the only bank making changes. bank of wells fargo is testing and suntrust started charges a $5 fee on basic accounts this summer and regions financials is expected to roll out a $4 on debits next month. with the latest regulation and along with congress' decisions from last year, financial institutions are finding new

ways to generate income. all of these new fees are leaving customers jaded. >> it is a matter of very little time before they send awe notice that they're tacking on a fee in another way. >> banks of america is the biggest bank in the country. it has big influence over what other banks do. if this debit fee works, we can probably expect to the see other banks following suit. as i told you just a moment ago, already many other banks are testing it. you've seen rewards points and programs rolled back. already seen all kinds of different fees for credit cards, debit cards, but my advice to people on this, if you are really outraged, use cash. go to a credit union. you can go to bank rate dot com and find out the fees. use your two feet. you don't have to be a victim. >> these fees went into place, because there are new regulations on credit card fees and banks want to make up debit card loss? >> debit card transactions. right. when you use your debit card,

the bank issues is paying less from the merchant. transferring some of that on to you. >> on to the consumer. >> to we, the consumer. so can congress act to stop this? >> well, it's ironic in a the banking industry says it's because congress acted that they are forced, "forced" to do this. they lost billions in fee revenues from the fee machines they were generating before, because congress shut it down. you'll get 30 days' notice saying it's a new fee. it's your choice to accept the deal or not. >> bank of america is in trouble, i know, but other banks are not exactly poor. they're making money. >> and want to make sure they keep making money, because they're for-profit. not there to do us a favor. there to make money and serve they are shareholders. >> it's 24 minutes past the hour. more business headlines next, and then more on this morning's breaking news. the biggest breakthrough in al qaeda since osama bin laden.

were back. "minding your business" this morning. right now u.s. stock futures are down after a wild day yesterday. stocks first rallied then headed south and then a late-day surge. the dow closed 144 points. s&p up and the nasdaq down slightly. recovering, needing people to pump money into the economy. in about an hour, we'll find out if people are doing that. personal spending for august. also the latest read on whether people are making more money. netflix caught in a vicious downward cycle. the stock is now at a 52-week low amid fears rival it's like amazon and microsoft of gaining power. down 9% yesterday. get this. down 62% since that unpopular

price hike back in july. those protests on wall street are now into their 14th day. persistent. the crowds of an 200 people are demonstrating against a number of issues including police brutality and wall street greed. "american morning" will be right back after the break. we're america's natural gas

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30 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. we have breaking news to tell you about. the white house confirming that anwar al awlaki, the leader of al qaeda in yemen, has been killed. a huge blow to al qaeda. his sermons on the web may have inspired the fort hood shooter and suspected underwear bomber. nic robertson will join us more on this key kill in a moment. closing arguments in the amanda knox murder appeal continue today in italy. a never before seen look at her life before bars.

obtained these photos of a local rock band that played a few gigs in prison. showing her dancing. she befriended and confided in band members. shep was convicted of a gruesome murder of her college housemate in italy. and due back in court, 29-year-old louis sanchez and the other man pleaded not guilty. stow continues to make significant improvements and is able to go oits lautside last wr the first time. jurors hear more testimony about the doctor accused of causing michael jackson's death. jackson's bodyguard aburto alvarez says he called 911 on the day jackson died but conrad murray made a stunning request first. >> -- at the foot of the bed he reached over and grabbed a handful of vials, and then he reached out to me and said,

here. put these in a bag. >> murray's charged with involuntary manslaughter. back to the breaking news now. yemen saying anwar al awlaki, the leader of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has been killed. a huge blow to al qaeda. looked at the leader of the next generation of terrorists. he was different because he was born in the united states in new mexico. nic robertson has more on who he was and is live in london for us. good morning, nic. >> reporter: good morning, carol. well, this was a man so charismatic who spoke english, that he appealed to an international and english audience, not just an arabic-speaking audience. he could get al qaeda's message across. i sat down with young men in london who had met with al awlaki. he said -- they said he was as important as osama bin laden.

anwar al awlaki. the radek's yemen-based preacher seen here online. saying he was like osama bin laden. >> translator: he reminds me, for example, the bin laden and also al zawahiri. as far as the foundations they have. >> he said, hand me over your scrolls. >> reporter: this was the same anwar al awlaki who exchanged e-mails with major nidal hasan accused of killing 14 people at fort hood. after the killings, awlaki praised hasan on his website calling him a hero. why he is so influential is a combination of birth and upbringing. born in the united states. his father a minister in the yemeni government. he is smart and privileged. he preached in a mosque in

virginia. he doesn't agree with awlaki's extreme views and denounces the killings at fort hood, but it was here at this mosque that major hasan as well as two of the 9/11 bombers. the 9/11 commission reports that even before this he was on the fbi's radar. according to the commission, by the time we sought to interview him in 2003, he had left the united states. so it's not just the fact that this guy is charismatic, that has made him important to al qaeda, but he's got so much out there. he's been a good recruiter, also a good fund-raiser, and yemen at this time is a place the united states has a special interest in. there is increasing move toward civil war. al qaeda has taken control of three provinces and the last major attacks against the united states all came from yemen, and

that bombmaker there is still on the loose. >> but al awlaki is dead, according to yemeni and american officials. nic robertson live from london, thanks. joining us with more on this, perspective, director of international security at the asia-pacific foundation, welcome to the program. first of all, how significant is this death? >> it is very significant. if you put it into perspective, bin laden's death had global ramifications for the transnational terror movement. anwar awlaki's geth will have equal importance for lone wolf. not tied to a terrorist group but motivated for the ideology. he understood the western mind-set, how to use the internet for those purposes and skilled in making an impression

on young people around the globe. it will have a hit on terrorism. >> can you put this into perspecti perspective? we keep hearing, al qaeda is massively weakened. with osama bin laden's death, thinking al qaeda is going to become a thing of the past, now this guy and we're hearing, oh, this is the end of al qaeda. >> it's an torrent step. the death of awlaki weakens the global terror movement pt it's not just about one al qaeda franchise or the al qaeda in the arain bien peninsula, many groups have their own finances, structure, cell structure, they also operate independent. the haas to continue its sustained effort in dismantling the infrastructure whether in pakistan or in yurmerm yemen, t new individuals that will emerge.

there are other ideologues playing an important role in indoctrinating individuals, other skilled bombmakers, plotting and planning mass attacks. >> he was a valuable tool. fran townsend told us his big draw was the fact that he was american and such a good communicator, and such a good recruiting tool. you make the point of the bombmakers. there are still operational people doing other things that are their strengths with the organization, and the small affiliate organizations around the region. so what needs to be done's now, do you think, to really hobble this network and this network of networks? >> one tactic that the u.s. has implemented successfully are the drone strikes. they are confining al qaeda's operation space in pakistan. boxing them in. eliminating the trainers who are basically preparing people for terrorist attack. equally those drones are now being used in yemen with similar

success. keep in mind, with anwar awlaki, unlike al zawahiri, anwar awlaki needed subtitles to operate. spoke english, understood about the west and there are other individuals like this. on the one hand you have the actual, physical struggle against al qaeda. the military campaign. and then you also have the ideological campaign. you have to undermine the message. you have to weaken and erode the doctor and suppose it for its flaws. otherwise, individuals will be exposed by similar, like anwar awlaki. his sermons are available to be downloaded. that is a campaign that still needs to be tackled. >> thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> paula newton reported he relished in the infamy of what he was doing, that he loved the ego of that, too. we're going to continue

following breaking developments on al awlaki's death, and also this morning, states hit hard by the economic crisis are also the same states president obama needs to win re-election. what does all that mean for 2012? we're going to talk about it. 39 minutes after the hour. ♪ something unexpected to the world of multigrain... taste. ♪ delicious pringles multigrain. ♪ with a variety of flavors. multigrain pops with pringles. [ woman ] my heart medication isn't some political game. [ man ] our retirement isn't a simple budget line item. [ man ] i worked hard. i paid into my medicare. [ man ] and i earned my social security. [ woman ] now, instead of cutting waste and loopholes,

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washington, d.c. mostly cloudy. 62 this morning. should be partly cloudy later today. 67 degree. welcome back to the program. job, the economy, critical in president obama's re-election hopes in 2012. some hit hardest of the same battleground states the president needs if he's going to be re-elected. joining me, mr. brownstein, senior political analyst and editorial journalist. ap new article out called "the geography of pain." paints a grim portrait. good morning. >> good morning, christine. >> the president's first two years. tell me a little bit about what we know. we know that places that are very important for the president are also places that have been hit hard by job decline, housing busts, and a feeling -- this big feeling that we're still in a recession? >> right. we use at "national journal" new

census data and other data, other federal data to try to give a report card on the economy in the 50 states over the past two years. two big messages come out of this. it's been a continent-sized storm. really almost no state not affected by the great recession and its aftermath. the median income since 2008 is down in every state except north dakota. every state except three energy producers. alaska, north dakota and texas has a decline in jobs, and poverty increased in every state except montana. a statistical anomaly. pain is everywhere. with that, the heaviest pain concentrated in two clusters of states. the rust belt and sun belt. the rust belt is the traditional battleground and the sun belt emerging as a new concentrati concentration's swing states. the places hit hardest on most measures also the states at the tipping point likely to decide the 2012 election. >> you call geography, in pain.

look at states, swing states. states obama received between 45% and 55% of the vote. took big hits. arizona, georgia, north carolina, indiana, florida and ohio, also saw median income drop more than 5%. some close to 9%. that's unheard of. that means people are feeling the pain every day. the same states that saw more than 100,000 jobs lost since 2008. if the president asks what reagan asked, are you better off than you were four years ago? he'd get a resounding no from his battlegrounds. >> right. basically you see the two kind of polls of pain, really. the states that the traditional manufacturing states that were losing ground anyway, michigan, ohio, indiana in particular. illinois lost a lot of jobs. also what had been the high fliers in the past decades. the states that were booming along with the real estate boom, like florida, arizona, georgia. arizona, georgia state, hopes to put in play in 2012.

florida, north carolina, nevada, states he didn't win in 2008 that moved into his camp and democrat graphically are positive for him. so you've got this, you know, two polls of states that are suffering the most. now, you know, this doesn't mean the president is not without argument in those states. and in almost all of these places the downturn began under president bush, and i think people recognize that, but as you say, if you're asking voters in these states, are they better off than in 2008? you won't get many people saying, yes. >> here's a way to look at it. some say the economy under the obama administration. the question, would it be worse without his policies or better? if it were a mccain presidency, would we be saying the very same thing? >> absolutely. electorally two key questions. first, what is the retrospective judgment they make on obama's performance over the four years. and by and large in polling we're moving towards a more negative judgment. a growing number are saying his

policies made things worse rather than better, but that isn't the whole story. the issue is also what is the perspective judgment where to go from here? on that front, he is polling better. in our congressional poll, pose his ideas how to create jobs versus the republican ideas how to create jobs going forward, generally his proposals score better even among groups that have been the most skeptical, white voters without a college education. on one hand, this is a very sobering portrait both economically and politically for the president, and the states he needs the most have been hurt the most. that's not the end of the story. a forward looking argument he can still contest and will in 2012. >> the only thing he has control over is the message and what kind of message they're sending. reagan had the morning in america, in 1984. last summer, the summer of recovery. recovery summer. that really came from the vice president's office and the whole stimulus thing, rovgered in the summer, and it wasn't. didn't feel like a recovery.

they have to be careful about the messaging. can they make a more optimistic message or is that tone deaf? >> there's a limit. what they've wanted to do throughout the presidency, get to a position in 2012 to argue, yes, things are not perfect now but we are moving in the right direction and do you want to go back to the policies that got us into the ditch? the first half of that argument is becoming more and more problematic, as each month passes without significant recovery. we note in the story, even if you look more narrowly at the past year, few states have seen an increase in median income. 44 states have seen an increase in jobs, only half an increase in jobs. very little tail wind to make the argument things are getting better. maybe the economy will provide more of that in the next year, but if that is not available, the argument essentially becomes the contrast argument. who do you trust going forward? that is a difficult argument. without some tail wind of economic progress in which the

president can say i am moving us in the right direction. that's the challenge he faces. not that he can't win the argument, but it's easier to win if you can say we are turning the ship around. >> right. ron brownstein, cnn political analyst great piece "geography of pain." join us when the republican candidates gather in las vegas to debate, tuesday night, october 18th live at 8:00 eastern here on cnn. morning headlines next. and can you figure out today's "romans' numeral"? here's a hint. if you have a jon waiting on tables, you're part of this number. 48 after the hour. improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair,

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top of the hour. biggest blow to al qaeda since osama bin laden. yemen saying the leader of al qaeda in the arabian prince is dead. saleh said he won't step down until his key rivals are out. he tells "washington post" for a political transition to work, all elements causing tension in yemen need to be removed. the u.s. fears a political vacuum could strengthen islamic militants. we could be in for a lower opening on wall street. right now u.s. stock futures are trading lower as investors remain focused on europe's debt crisis. americans are feeling, well, pretty grim about the economy these days. according to a brand-new cnn/orc poll, just 10% of americans say

the economic conditions today are good. 90% say they stink. bank of america says it will begin charging customers 5 bucks a month to use their debt cards. the move coincides with the new government role limiting how much banks could charge merchants on debit card transactions. two men charged in the beating of san francisco giants fan bryan stow will be in court today for a preliminary hearing. 29-year-old louis sanchez and marvin norwood have pled not guilty to the attack that left stow in a coma. the parade of prosecution witnesses will continue this morning at the michael jackson death trial. paramedics are expected to tell the jury they asked dr. murray if jackson was taking any drugs and the doctor never told them about propofol. he is charged with giving jackson a lethal overdose. tropical storm ophelia is now a hurricane and experts say

it will most likely grow stronger. it is not expected to move towards the united states. right now it's sitting hundreds of miles southeast of bermuda. and diamonds are a girl's best friend, marilyn monroe sang it and now you can own her wedding band. the one joe dimaggio gave her in 1954. it's going on the auction block. the diamond and platinum band is expected to fetch $500,000 when bidding opens this december. that's kind of sad in a way, isn't it? that's the news you need to start your day, "american morning" back after a break.

good morning, new york. it is sunny and 62 degrees.

we're hearing partly cloudy new yorkers. 76 later. this morning's roman numeral. a number in the news, 58.2%. what in the world is that? this is the number i wanted to bring to you. the employment population ratio. according to the bureau of labor statistics 58% of the working age population is employed. think of that. 58%. sometimes you'll hear people say 9.8% unemployment, that means 91% of the working people are employed, not true. this is how many people the percentage of the population is employed way too low. this includes everyone age 16 and over not active duty personnel and not another type of institution or the like. look at that, 58.2%, carol. that is the employment, that's how many people working age people are employed. this shows you thepolitical issues facing us. look back 16 years how that number has been coming down. top stories when we return, including new information on the breaking news we have been

following. the man believed to be al qaeda's new number one dead. how they got him. next. 189 they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

breaking news overnight. i'm christine romans. another key al qaeda kill. an war al awlaki is dead. some experts saying this is bigger. a bigger killing than osama bin laden. al qaeda using a young internet savvy, english speaking extreme american citizen. more on how huge this kill is on this "american morning."

all right, everyone. good morning, it's friday. >> friday, september 30th. ali velshi is off today. following a lot of breaking news overnight. >> you're not kidding. let's start with the breaking news overnight. war against al qaeda, yemen saying anwar al awlaki is dead. al awlaki was considered more dangerous than osama bin laden by some experts since he was a u.s. citizen. he was linked to the accused underwear bomber and the accused ft. hood shooter. he was called the internet bin laden for his skill of recruiting terrorists online. >> digging for details on how they got him and reaction from washington. dan lothian at the white house, barbara starr at the pentagon and fran townsend. first, mohammed, good morning to you. >> good morning.

we just got a statement from a yemeni government official. he says that this is a strong statement to the commitment of the yemeni government to eliminate the threat iminating. he was in a convoy of vehicles when an air strike hit his mote cade. that's how he was killed. what remains to be seen at this point is if the u.s. played a role in this. we know a few days after osama bin laden was killed there was a drone strike aimed at killing and al awlaki narrowly escaped with his life and went back into hiding. that was cooperation between the u.s. and yemen on that strike. whether it was a drone strike, the nature of the air strike and if the u.s. was involved. those details have yet to emerge at this time. >> mohammed jamjoom, thank you. released a statement in part

saying, "for the past several years, al awlaki has been more dangerous than even osama bin laden has been." congressman king is on the phone right now joining us live. congressman kill, tell us, how vital is this? >> very vital. the head of the national terrorism center testified before the homeland security committee that awlaki was more dangerous than bein laden. he was the greatest threat to our country. the main reason being, he was american and understood american life. he was really involved one way or the other since september 11th. you mentioned the christmas day bombing and the people linked to awlaki. he was attempting to link up with al shabab and he was emerging clearly in the al qaeda

world as one of their top leaders. he was not the head of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and i can tell you that u.s. intelligence officials were most, most concerned about awlaki. we had a hearing committee scheduled for next month on the extent from awlaki. >> you have been briefed for some time about efforts to get him. i assume you will likely be briefed again on details of this attack later on today. are you assuming this was a drone strike? >> i am assuming u.s. intelligence was involved. a drone attack or bomb attack. my understanding at 3:00, 4:00, a convoy. we almost got him several times before and we have been very aggressive in yemen. i give president obama tremendous credit on this and he signed the order get awlaki dead or alive, even though he was an american citizen. still, he allowed our people to

target him and it was the right decision to make. significant victory for us and i will urge, i'm sure the administration will do it, keep the pressure on before al qaeda and any of its elements get the chance to reconstitute them selves. >> we were looking at the fbi most wanted list and plenty of people on that list. who is the next target? who should we be worried about now? >> well, obviously, zawahiri, number one man in al qaeda central, but any number of others out there. names that aren't always highlighted. top tier, second tier and, again, even though people were killed, al qaeda is still a threat. having said that, the more we can diminish them, the more we can keep them on defense and the more we can keep them in hiding, the harder it is for them to reconstitute themselves at the same time because of the karr charismatic following. we have to be very much on our guard against the revenge killing right now. they will definitely want to

revenge this. >> he was a good recruiting tool, but plenty of operational people out there making bombs and teaching people how to make bombs right now, right? >> no longer operating out of afghanistan. awlaki was an example of this, but operatives all over the world, including people in this country who al qaeda has attempted to recruit. no, it's still a massive threat to our country, but it's been diminished. it began during the bush administration and continued in the obama administration of keeping them on defense and going after them and killing them whenever we can. >> congressman peter king, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. let's bring in barbara starr for us live at the pentagon. are you learning any more from your sources a that pentagon about the specifics of this particular attack? >> well, you know what's very interesting this morning. this is right now the story where people aren't talking but you can reasonably deduce a

number of clues here. the administration said that awlaki was dead. what would make the white house, pentagon, government agencies around town so certain so early on that, in fact, he was dead unless they knew plenty about it. it is unlikely this was a sole yemeni operation. all sources pointing to u.s. intelligence and even potentially u.s. military involvement. three ways they could have gone about this. there could have been some kind of fighter jet overhead, f-16, f-18 dropping a bomb, but that doesn't give you the absolute precision that he's in the car, in the convoy and in the compound and that he is dead. next, a drone strike. lower altitude, perhaps more precision, more cameras, more reconnaissance equipment. they would be able to know that there might be a convoy moving on the road. he was in it and be able to strike and see that he was dead. there is a third way these type of operations happen. and that is u.s. special forces

on helicopters, they have done this in somalia, moving in, shooting from helicopters against a convoy or a target on the ground. what we do know is that u.s. forces were in yemen until at least very recently working with the yemenis on counterterrorism operations and training, training is what they publicly call it. we don't know if those u.s. troops are still there, but at this point our sources are telling us there are no indication that they left in recent da. we're going to keep poking away at this, but it's that initial clue from the administration this morning. how did they know so certainly, so fast that it was awlaki that had been killed. >> the confirmation came within hours, barbara starr. >> absolutely. >> thank you, barbara, we appreciate it. the obama administratio authorized the cia to capture or kill the new mexico born muslim cleric. let's head to dan lothian live at the white house. any word that the president will come out and talk about this?

>> not yet. i have reached out to a number of administration officials and they have not yet made any changes to the president's schedule, in terms of telling us that. what i can point out is that the president at 11:00 will attend a change of office ceremony for the joint chiefs that will take place in nearby virginia. so, that would be a very good opportunity for the president, either before, during or after those remarks to say something about this killing. beyond that, as barbara pointed out, all signs are pointing to the fact that the u.s. was deeply involved in this operation, but so far, no confirmation at all. if and when we do hear from the president, perhaps the message will be similar to what we heard from representative peter king, who you just had on the air in a statement that he released earlier where he said, "america has to continue being vigilant knowing there are more islamic terrorists that will gladly back fill this dangerous killer." that we expect will be the

message from the administration. yes, this is a big get and a big day for the u.s. and military. the threat still continues not only in other countries like afghanistan but also in yellen against al qaeda in that region. >> dan lothian reporting live from the white house, thank you. joining us with more perspective on this, fran townsend. and i'd like to talk about yemen itself because that is a country in disarray. its president just returned to the country and now this happens. the government there is very unsettled. how worried should we be about that? >> well, we should be very worried about yemen itself because, of course, what we know is al qaeda benefits from weakened territories whether that's the tribal areas in pakistan, yemen, somalia, all these places allow them the real estate they need, if you will, to train and recruit and plan an attack. so, the chaos in yemen is of

particular concern, one, because of its proximity to the streets, the area in the persian gulf between saudi arabia and iran. we care because of its on saudi southern border. 65% of the world oil reserves would be very disruptive if al qaeda would use yemen to launch an attack into saudi. for a whole bunch of reasons the united states government and saudi government prevailed not to return to yemen and increase the protest and violence and he chose to do that anyway. >> he was out of the country because of an attack on him and his cabinet, essentially, that rendered him burned 40% of his body. very injured. went to saudi arabia and the saudis and the americans said, don't come back, don't come back. we need stability in this country. he came back. could this be him saying, look, i'm in charge and he helped with the intelligence. >> he wants the united states support right now. so, he can keep his presidency in yemen. >> absolutely.

let's remember just this week an assa assassination attempt on the yemeni minister of defense. this is completely chaotic and absolutely he's looking for support. traditionally what he was looking for when i was in the white house during the bush administration were arms and weapons to fight these folks. but he's certain looking at a minimum political support and probably more than that. >> so interesting, too, that this was an american and that the united states government targeted an american on foreign soil. it's war. this is someone who had basically declared war against the united states and was doing a pretty effective job of radicalizing people against our interests. how important is it his citizenship? >> well, look, it took a good deal of both legal work and then leadership and courage on the part of the administration to be willing to target an american. john brennan my successor said quite clearly in a public speech, we won't let anyone wrap themselves in the pellflag and protect themselves while trying

to protect us. this was a big deal and also sends a message to others who think they might be protected by the american citizenship. that that's not the case. and let's remember, i think when people think of al awlaki they think of his relationship with nidal hasan, the ft. hood shooter or the christmas day underwear bomber, but, let's remember, he goes back to 9/11. this was a very substantial figure. his information was found in the german apartment of ramsey ben al sheed the one hijacker who couldn't get in the united states for the 9/11 hijack. he is directly linked to the largest attack against the united states. >> fran townsend, thanks so much. we appreciate it. we will continue to follow breaking developments on al awlaki's death. also ahead, hurricane ophelia getting stronger. so, who's in the danger zone? rob marciano is up next. 11 minutes past the hour.

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i love that song. >> i do, too. that's getting me going. new york city, sunny, 62. little cloudy later. please don't rain. happy friday, everybody. >> we had enough rain. october starting early. the major league baseball postseason begins tonight. the american league kicks things off. the detroit tigers will battle the -- >> they'll be here at yankee stadium as they try to knock off the new york yankees and the comeback kids the rays versus the rangers. can you believe milwaukee is in it? the st. louis cardinals versus the phillies at 8:40 eastern. a little pregame, i should say. the "wall street journal" jason gay is here. we'll talk football, too. the lions, baby. >> you get two hours of sleep? >> yes, i do.

it's nirvana. tonight, i get to watch the tigers beat the yankees and on sunday the lions will beat the cowboys. >> rob, what are you going to wear? what is the bet when your team loses to carol's team? i can't remember what we decided yesterday? >> apparently i dress in a boston uniform and, carol, you'll have to dress up in a yankee uniform, obviously, if you lose. which is going to happen. aren't you from cincinnati or are you originally from -- >> i'm from canton, ohio, where football began. but when the browns moved to baltimore and i adopted the tigers and i've been a fan for about 13 years now. so that's the story. >> you're a transfer. at least you're not a winner picker. all right, guys, good morning, again. we're looking for cool fall weather for the incoming fall classic, which won't be for another month. the wildcard and divisional races and playoffs will feature cool weather as this front pushes off to the east.

i don't think any of it is game-threatening weather. they may have to intermittently throw the tarp on. 59 degrees in chicago. winds gusting in the windy city. waves at lake michigan building over 20 feet in spots. so, this is pretty potent storm that is making its way off to the east and the cool down will get its way all the way down to the gulf of mexico. 67 degrees the expected high temperature tomorrow in atlanta and overnight lows across the south, in some spots, will get down into the 40s. but this will kind of hang around the northeast. it is not going to completely clear out over the weekend. some sort of unsettled weather and showers that will just kind of aggravate you a little bit. do want to talk about this briefly, hurricane ophelia, now a strong category 2 storm. it will skim bermuda and potentially hit newfoundland but no where near the u.s. guys, back out to you. >> thanks. justin verlander.

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and welcome back. 21 minutes after the hour. watching your money this morning. bank of america says it will begin charging customers $5 a month to use their debit cards. the move coincides with new government rules limiting how much banks can charge merchants on debit card transactions. u.s. stock futures pointing to a lower open on wall street this morning. that slide followdize clines overseas. markets down on concerns of the european debt crisis. warren buffett returns to the new york stock exchange for the first time in 23 years. he will ring the opening bell to celebra celebrate. the first round of checks were supposed to be mailed today, but a ruling earlier this week against the owners of the mets cuts the recovery for

madoff victims by an estimated $6 billion. many of you now may be a good time to buy a home or, at the very least, consider refinancing. take a look at your mortgage right now, folks. the lowest rates since freddie mac began tracking them back in 1970. averaging 4.01% this week. general motors is adding a new type of airbag to its crossover suvs next year. it pops up between the front seats. help prevent 29% of fatalities from side crashes. still ahead, a dramatic and frightening rescue caught on tape while a 6-year-old boy trips and falls in front of a moving car. how cops and bystanders banded together to save that little boy's life. "american morning" back right after the break.

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25 minutes past the hour. good morning. a daring rescue captured on camera in boca raton, florida. trapped underneath his grandfather's car. he is rescued by a group of police officers along with a few bystanders. we're joined now by the officers that made that dramatic recovery, mike daily and ernie. welcome, officers. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. so, officer, you were first on the scene. did it just pop into your head that, you know, what exactly you should do? >> no, ma'am. when i arrived on scene i saw that the boy was under the vehicle. i got down to his level and looked to see where he was kind of pinned underneath the car. he was visibly shaken. he was scared and he said he was scared and he wanted to get out of there. i told him to be brave and we'll

get him out in just a minute. his leg was pinned in such a way that i knew that we had to lift the car somehow. so, once i got from underneath the car i went to the rear of the vehicle and tried to get access to a jack and tried to lift it and was unsuccessful. and when i turned around i saw the officers responding and i knew we definitely have a shot at getting him. we were able to do that right away to lift the vehicle. >> let me bring in the officer because one of the issues here when we look at this video, you all seem so amazingly calm. and so do the bystanders. i think when it's a little 6-year-old boy afraid and probably hurt under there. it could have been a chaotic situation and it wasn't. what was the little boy saying and what were people doing as this was happening? >> the boy wasn't saying much. he was crying and, obviously, in distress.

he was trapped under that car and we just felt like we had to do something. the child was trapped under the car and the bystanders were looking upon us to try to help them and do what we can to get the car out from under the car. >> we're watching him right now and he's being pulled out and hugged by someone there. he's just a little guy. just a little guy. you know, officer daily, how did he get stuck? what was exactly happening there? his arm and leg was stuck between the wheel well and the tire? what was happening? >> from what the officer saw his leg was pinned up underneath between the wheel well and engine karment. he we only needed three inches to elevate the car that's when we immediately just went up to the wheel well and, you know, just gave it a big tug. >> so, i was just going to ask, this is a heavy vehicle, obviously. where did you guys get that

super human strength all of a sudden? >> human strength at all, the collective group. total team effort. we just, you know, like officer daly said, it's just, we didn't have to say anything. we just knew we had to get to it and lift that car. didn't have be super high, maybe three inches or so, that would be enough just to free him and we accomplished that. so, we're grateful. >> how did he -- he tripped, he got out of the car and he tripped and then the car was going and he fell under, is that how he got under there? >> essentially, yes, ma'am. that's the way it happened. >> do you guys have kids? >> i have a 7-year-old little boy, wyatt. he's home at school right now .p and he reminded me of my son because he's standing like dominik and dark hair and right away a flash of my own son.

>> so, final question for you guys. you know how the little boy is doing right now? officer daly, maybe you can answer that question. >> yeah, he's doing fine. he's still in the hospital in the intensive care unit. they were able to reattach his ear, which was severed in the crash and he is recovering nicely up at the intensive care unit. he is going to have some recovery time, but they do expect him to have a full recovery. >> well, thank you so much for joining us this morning with such an inspiring story. we're glad that little boy is going to be fine. thank you. >> thank you. thanks to all of you. top stories, including, we're going to update that breaking news for you this morning. we're now hearing from a yemeni official that an air strike killed anwar al awlaki, but the official would not say who instigated the attack. who carried out the attack. this is a huge blow to al qaeda.

his sermons on the web may have even inspired the ft. hood shooter. nic robertson will join us live with more details in just a moment. other top stories. closing arguments in the amanda knox murder appeal trial continue today in italy. we're also getting some never-before hp scene pi never-before-seen pictures. a local rock band that played a few gigs at her prison that show her dancing. knox is a college student from seattle accused of the murder of her house mate back in italy. 29-year-old louis sanchez and marvin norwood have pleaded not guilty. bryan stow was attacked outside dodger stadium back in march. he was beaten to a coma. he was able to go outside last week for the first time. jurors will hear more

testimony today against the doctor accused of causing michael jackson's death. jackson's body guard said he called 911, but conrad murray made a stunning request first. >> i was standing at the foot of the bed. he reached over and grabbed a handful of vials and then he reached out to me and said, here, put these in a bag. >> so prosecutors contend that dr. murray was trying to cover up his actions. he's charged with involuntary manslaughter. back to our breaking news now. anwar alau wlaki has been killed. he was different because he was born here in the united states. nic robertson has more on who this man is. he joins us live from london. good morning, nic. >> good morning, carol. well, the fact that yemeni officials say that he was killed by an air strike but won't say who was behind the air strike, perhaps not surprising. a political sensitive issue for

the yemeni government right now if the united states were known to be the ones behind the attack because it would certainly set, certainly set more of this civil war that is going against the government in yemen, set more of that at an impassionate level, if you will. awlaki himself spoke english, could reach out, had a strong internet following and could reach out to people in english and in arabic. i spoke to some people in london last year, they considered awlaki as important as osama bin laden. anwar al awlaki. the radical yemen-based preacher seen here online. his followers say he's like osama bin laden. >> he reminds me of osama bin

laden and also zu hairy. >> hand me over your scrolls. >> reporter: this is the same anwar al awlaki who exchanged e-mails with nidal hasan, accused of killing 13 people at ft. hood. after the killings he praised hasan on his website calling him a hero. why awlaki is so influential is a combination of birth and upbringing. he was born in the united states, his father was a minister in the yemeni government. he is smart and privilege. he preached in the mosque in virginia. he doesn't agree with awlaki's extreme views and denounces the killings at ft. hood. but it was here at the mosque that awlaki met major hasan as well as two of the 9/11 bombers.

the 9/11 commission reports even before this he was on the fbi's radar. according to the commission, by the time we sought to interview him in 2003, he had left the united states. of course, incredibly critically, not just to get this man who is so charismatic because he, a, can recuruit a lt of people and attract a lot of funds, but a civil war going on in yemen. and al qaeda controls three provinces in that country. which gives them to plan and prepare for more attacks against the united states. yemen, of course, being behind the last two principal attacks against the united states, carol. >> christine here. interesting in his biography, he was picked up a couple times in, i think, 1996 and 1997 for so c soliciting prostutes in san diego. he has kind of a complicated

personal history as you comb through it and find out what made this guy tick. >> it's clear that he wasn't that pious, particularly in the beginning. we've seen this with other radicals. they've sort of been drinkers and they had womenizing episodes in their lives and even been involved in drugs and suddenly they want to put all that behind them and become holier than thou and awlaki had fallen in that category. he was picked up for soliciting hookers and some questions about what law enforcement officers may or may not have said to him during that period, but it was after that that he became more and more radicalized through the 2000s becoming extremely radical in the end. when he was here in britain, he wasn't standing up in mosques and people go out and commit terrorist actions, as he was in 2009, 2010 in yemen.

so, this is a process that he's gone through. but there were clear turning points and this notion of somebody sort of transgressing and getting involved in women in his case or alcohol or drugs and then turning to hard core religion. this perhaps is not so abnormal as some of the real radical al qaeda adherence. >> as for how he was killed, nic, we are getting more information. we understand his motorcade was hit by some kind of air strike. do you know anything more? >> we don't have more details. we know that his motorcades have been tracked before a drone strike narrowly missed him in may. the indications are this was a u.s. drone strike back then. the indications are that he was tracked for a while. certainly, we're asking questions. the saudis were very important in giving a key piece of intelligence tip off information about the bombs that were made in yemen and exported on flights

to the united states about this time last year. could there have been an intelligence asset on the ground that has passed along information specifically about when awlaki was to get into an aircraft. drone aircraft loitering for hours and hours and hour s overa potential target and make that identifying image, if you will, of somebody getting in the vehicle. the drone would be the ideal platform to have waited, loitered until they picked up al awlaki coming out of a certain building. he was in iman on the day of prayer and where he was going to preach this day. >> nic robertson reporting live from london, thanks. 38 minutes after the hour. ♪ ♪ ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪

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good morning, detroit, michigan. could it be a better day?

the weather doesn't matter. so, it's mostly cloudy and 54 degrees and going to rain later. who cares? the detroit tigers play the new york yankees today and then, of course, the lions play this weekend. i'm sure they'll take the dallas cowboys. welcome back to "american morning." the major league baseball season, let's start with the post-season, shall we? begins tonight after one of the most thrilling days of the regular season ever. my tigers go face-to-face in the bronx to face the new york yankees. what about football? the buffalo bills and my lions, 3-0. joining us now for a little pregame sports columnist from "wall street journal" jason gay. >> thank you for having me. >> such an exciting weekend. let's start with the rays and rangers because the rays just had an amazing end of the season. >> incredible. i mean, i think people are still recovering from wednesday night. probably the craziest night in major league baseball history. four teams competing for playoff

spots. red sox and the rays, that flurry at the end' the red sox losing in baltimore. shocking. shocking. >> it was shocking but sometimes when a team has a hot streak like that, they kind of pidder out in the playoffs. let's face it, the texas rangers are good. >> truthfully, i think the rangers are a lilt more scared of the rays than they would be of the red sox. the rays, here's a team that has had a huge hot streak and firing away. i don't know if they want to play them as much as they wanted to play boston. >> let's talk about the detroit tigers, because i can't wait to talk about the detroit tigers. when they clinched their division, jim leyland, the manager of the tigers was so emotional. let's play a bit of what he said after that game. >> tough times for people in detroit, we know that. and, believe me, it's not something that we don't think about. because we do. i come from a big family, my dad was a factory worker. i know all about stuff like

that. worrying aboat getting laid off. i have a great positiappreciati that and it means so much to me. during times like this, a sports team can uplift your speirits ad i hoped we lifted the spirits of the fans in detroit because they deserve it. >> it makes me cry. i mean, he's very emotional. i know detroit is a little sick of everybody feeling sorry for it, but i think that, you know, that the tigers have uplifted the city. i think every game has sold out for them this season. >> detroit has been a fantastic story in baseball and also now in football. the tigers, you know, very hot teams going in to play new york. justin verlander. no team in baseball wants a piece of justin verlander. very tough series for the yankees. >> very tough. just a bit more about justin verlander because he had this amazing season. he could actually win the cy young and most valuable player. >> it's a regular debate whenever this happens when you have a superstar pitcher like

verlander, do they deserve both consideration for best pitching. he is a locked to win the cy young, but also worthy of consideration for major league baseball? some folks feel we should only give that to position players, people in the lineup every day. verlander will get a lot of votes. >> he faces cc sabathia tonight. >> that's right. >> that should be a great matchup and great game. i'm hoping the tigers win. you wrote quite an enjoyable column in "wall street journal" saying the bills and the lions in the super bowl. yea. >> this is an incredible circumstance. the bills and lions are both 3-0. the lions have not been 3-0 since 1980. both of these teams are quality teams. this is not just some flight of fancy. the bills, of course, an unbelievable win against the patriots last week. lions 3-0 and going to play a

huge game in dallas on sunday. could be 4-0 for the first time since 1980. this is a remarkable turn of events for this franchise. >> couldn't be in the case of both teams that their weaknesses have not been exposed. because in the game last week with the lions in the first half of that game, they looked pathetic. >> both of them are kind of living on the ledge. the lions had to come back from a 20-point first quarter deficit. they're not going to be able to do that week in and week out. you're entering a critical part of the schedule, especially the lions. the cowboys and bears coming up after that. if they can sail through that, you're looking at a quality playoff team. >> i think it's fun to root for different teams. not the same old teams winning every week. >> i agree. i think it's great. for most americans, we're used to watching the lions on thanksgiving day. >> and complaining about it. >> now we're watching them in october, what's not to like? >> jason gay, thank you for joining us. morning headlines coming your way, next. 46 minutes past the hour.

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49 minutes after the hour. here are your morning headlines. word of the biggest blow to al qaeda since osama bin laden. yemen now saying anwar al awlaki, the leader of al qaeda in the aribbian peninsula was killed in an air strike in his motorcade. the official wouldn't say who carried out that attack. we could be in for a lower opening on wall street. right now u.s. stock futures are trading lower as investors remain focused on a debt crisis in europe. some of the first responders that rushed to michael jackson's home on the day he died will testify today. they're expected to tell jurors if they asked dr. conrad murray if he was taking any drugs, but he never told them about propofol. hurricane ophelia gaining strength in the atlantic. sitting hundreds of miles southeast of bermuda. ophelia isn't expected to move towards the united states. florida is now expected to

move up its presidential primary to the last day in january 2012. a decision on that likely coming as early as today. a move that could throw the entire republican nominating calendar into a frenzy. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" back right after this break.

good morning, new york city. sunny and 65 degrees and, of course, it will turn partly cloudy and dark tonight after the tigers -- i know, i'll get off of it. i promise. welcome back, americans, well, they're feeling pretty grim about the economy these days.

according to a brand-new cnn/orc poll just 10% of americans say economic conditions today are good. 90% say they stink. >> just this summer, 81% said that the economy stunk. so, you can see people are thinking it stinkier. the number may rise. bank of america said it may begin charging customers $5 a month to use their debit cards and a lot of customers are outraged this morning. guess what, not the only bank instituting new debit card fees. 5 bucks a month, that's how much it will cost bank of america customers to make purchases with their debit cards. set to take effect in 2012 and customers are already voicing their displeasure. >> not too psychoed about it and that's why i'm switching. >> reporter: the fee will not apply if you only use your debit cards at atms. why the new fees? a bank of america spokeswoman says the economics of offering a debit card have changed with recent regulations.

the regulation they're referring to is the durbin amendment. it goes into effect on saturday and reduces the amount of money banks charge merchants every time a debit card is used to make a purchase. now, that difference may seem like pennies, but it's expected to cost banks $6.6 billion in revenue per year, according to javlin strategy and research. bofa not the only bank. wells fargo testing markets and suntop trust a $5 debit card fee on certain accounts this summer. with the latest regulation, along with legislation from congress last year, shutting down the bank's fee machine of overdraft charges, financial institutions are finding new ways to generate income. but all these new fees are leaving customers jaded.

>> it is a matter of very little time before they send you a notice that they're tacking on a fee in another way. >> bank of america is the biggest bank in the country and has big influence on what other banks do. if this debit card fee works, we can expect to see other banks following suit. many banks are testing it in select markets to see if customers will do a $3 a month or $5 a month debit card fee and not switch banks. >> give us that website, again, if we don't want to pay these fees. there are other options. >> 30-day notice. by law, 30-day notice. if you just use your atm card and no debit purchases, you don't have to pay this fee. you can take a look at fees and interest rates and links to credit unions and the like where you can see, you know, other banks and what their strategies. >> this is forcing people to use their credit cards, again. >> credit cards are adding on monthly payments and they're taking away your rewards plans and the like. so, look, we've been telling you for a year that this was going to happen and it's happening, exactly what it looked like.

it's going to cost you more to use your own money. >> it's going to cost you more to use your own money. you have to be careful to make sure you don't incur these fees. >> cost you more to use your own money. nothing makes sense. six minutes until the top of the hour. new information, the man believed to be al qaeda's number one in the arabian peninsula is now dead. how they got him. that's coming your way, next.

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that breaking news is the death of anwar al awlaki the leader of al qaeda in the arabian prince. telling cnn it was a "successful joint intelligence sharing operation between yemen and the united states." al awlaki was considered more dangerous than osama bin laden by some experts because he was a u.s. citizen. al awlaki was linked to the accused underwear bomber and the alleged ft. hood shooter.

>> he was called the internet bin laden because of his skill for recruiting terrorists online. let's turn, once more, to cnn national security contributor, fran townsend. we're getting more information on how this went down. a joint operation between yemen and the united states. we understand that his motorcade was hit by an air strike. so -- >> so, you know, given that, i mean, i think what you're going to see over the coming hours is joint is going to have a very heavy american hand in it. no question. we knew that the americans took an attempted strike, drone strike about a couple months ago. it missed. it makes perfect sense. you know, there was also in the early going after 9/11, there was another al qaeda member in yemen. the u.s. took a drone strike and acknowledged it later. i think you'll find over time it's just hard getting officials to confirm it yet that this is a pretty serious american